To Change the Tides
by Aarogyc
Summary: Kurt meets a distraught stripper who has been offered all she ever wanted to turn a certain dapper gay man straight. He tries to help her through tough times and meets the object of her supposed goal. Futurefic, Klaine, Finchel, possible Puck/OC, other.


It'd been a long day at school, NYADA is a dream come true but not without challenge. I sigh, heading to my car at the far end of the campus parking lot. It's nearing the end of my sophomore year here, and I think about the good times I've had so far here with Rachel Berry, my kind, yet occasionally over the top roomie. I smile as I turn the key in the ignition of my Navigator, and back out of my parking spot to go to the apartment, where I knew my stepbrother Finn and our friend Noah Puckerman would be waiting, as they've just gotten out for summer break and have been planning on visiting me and Rachel, who Finn has been dating long distance for two entire school years after a admittedly rocky high school relationship. I drive through the New York traffic absentmindedly, making my way to my apartment with the speakers blasting a playlist of my favorite show tunes from my iPod. I sing along to them until arriving at the apartment.

I walk in and go up the stairs until I arrive at the door of my third floor loft. I unlock the door and instantly find myself emersed in a hug from both Finn and Puck before I can even take a step into the apartment.

"Hey Kurt!" both of them shout in unison, not giving me a chance to breath in their tight grips.

"Need... to... breath...!" I attempt to yell, and they laugh as they let go. I walk in the door, chuckling and smiling at their childish antics, just how they'd been in high school but even more enthusiastic about it now. I suppose they missed me.

I look around for Rachel, knowing she stayed home due to her lack of classes today. I assume she's in her bedroom or the bathroom or something, since the floor plan is basically a large kitchen, dining, and living room combination with high ceilings and a metal staircase off to the left of the door, leading to a landing above the door to the first floor powder room, with two bedrooms and full bathroom upstairs. Me and Rachel loved the arrangement from the start, and snatched it up even with our less than fabulous jobs; I work as a manager at Starbucks, after having good recommendations from working at the Lima Bean my senior year in Ohio. Rachel managed to get a job right off the bat too, working as a waitress at a four star Italian restaurant. Besides our incomes, her dads had offered to pay for a portion of the rent for their little girl and her gay roomie.

Puck notices me looking around the room, and assumes I'm looking for the brunette.

"If you're looking for Rachel, she let us in and then took off for work. Said she got a call and that she'll be working a shift for a friend tonight," he announces, and I nod with a smile. I set my bag down on a small table next to the door, already littered with various magazines and unopened envelopes that neither me nor Rachel have gotten around to shredding.

"So how's the glamorous life going for you, Kurt?" Puck asks, a joking smile on his face. I've kept in touch with both Finn and Puck, and they've both heard stories of NYADA and various problems at Starbucks. I laugh and respond with nothing but the world "Beautifully" and a smile as I close the door and motion for the two of them to sit on one of the three black couches in the center of the room. I lay back on the end of one, a portion with a ottoman as a foot rest. My body aches from doing strenuous dance routines today in one of my classes.

"You look beat," Puck says, pointing out the obvious as he sits on the couch across from me, while Finn takes the loveseat to my right.

"No one ever said college was easy," I laugh. "Speaking of which, how were your years?" I ask, directing it at both of them..

"Football is good, but since I'm a sophomore I don't get a ton of playtime," Finn answered, a somewhat down look playing across his face.

"You're a good player though, Finn. The team will need use you soon, I'm sure," I encourage, and then turn to Puck.

"I quit playing on the football team and switched my major to cooking. I decided that would be better for me. I feel like being a chef will be a lot more interesting a career for me than doing the same thing I've been doing since high school," I nod to him, smiling at him encouragingly.

"That's exciting, hows it going?"

"Pretty good actually. But since the school isn't focused on culinary arts, I'm looking for somewhere to transfer to. I've saved a lot of money up from my pool cleaning business over the years."

"That's great, Puck," I reply enthusiastically. "Do you two want anything to eat or drink?"

They look at each oter suspiciously, and I raise an eyebrow at them.

"Drinking sounds fun," they answer in unison and I roll my eyes. I really don't drink, but I can make exceptions, or at least go out with my step brother and friend if they want t get drunk their first day here.

* * *

><p>An hour later, I find myself walking to my car with a jubilant pair of men following behind me, bickering about who could handle their liquor better.<p>

"Let's walk," Finn says, out of the blue.

"Yeah, I saw a place just a little ways away while we were in the cab from the airport," Puck announces.

I shrug, and follow them towards the sidewalk, my boots comfortable enough for me to accept the idea of walking. I laugh at their jokes, and shortly we arrive at a place I had never really spared a thought as I drove past. A realization hits me as I hear the booming music and look in the window.

"You guys know this is a strip club, right?" I ask, a little uncomfortable.

"No, I didn't, actually..." Puck says awkwardly. "We can head somewhere else if you want, Kurt,"

I shrug again, figuring we're already here. I'm here to make sure they don't drink themselves to death anyway, and plus, it's their first day here. Finn and Puck both look at me with a look that clearly asks me if I'm one hundred percent sure. I nod, and we walk in.

A strobe light flashes, and I see a grin on Puck's face, and an awkward stare on Finn's. I can tell he feels a little guilty being here without Rachel knowing.

"Hey Finn, don't worry too much about it. Just tell her we accidentally stumbled on this place and Puck dragged us in here," Finn nods and follows me to a table while Puck rushes to the bar, whether to get a drink or gawk at the scantily dressed women dancing on it, I don't know.

I chuckle at him; same old Noah Puckerman.

* * *

><p>For two hours or so, we drink and talk, Puck coming to join me and Finn at our table for most of the time, going back to the bar for a few minutes at a time to get new drinks for everyone, dawdling to gawk some more. We reminisce about Glee Club and Puck talks about a few serious relationships he's had, even moving in with a girl but then breaking up soon after. Finn talks about football and working at my dad's auto shop, and retelling stories I'd already heard from my dad.<p>

I excuse myself from the table to use the restroom. I get up and straighten out my designer jacket as I walk towards the men's room.

Before I get there, I hear faint crying from a corridor off the side of a small hallway leading to the bathrooms. I look towards the source and see a girl, dressed in fishnet tights, huge white heels, a short leather skirt and matching bra sitting against a wall, in tears. Her hair is blond and her eyes are caked in the running remains of dark makeup.

"Hello?" I say, and I earn a sniffle from the girl.

"I'm not on duty right now, go away," she mumbles. I walk towards her. She repeats her rejection again.

I keep walking and sit down next to her.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing, go away," she replies, and then turns away from me.

"I'm Kurt," I tell her.

"I don't care, I'm off duty right now," she repeats.

"And I play for the other team," I say, and she scoffs.

"So you come to a strip club? Right,"

"I'm here with straight friends that are visiting New York, because it's the closest place serving alchohol to my apartment,"

She turns to me, and opens her mouth to speak. "Lily,"

I smile, finally getting her to speak to me.

"So what's wrong, Lily?" I ask in a calm voice.

"Everything. I just got a call that I've been kicked out of my apartment, and today I got an offer for a ton of money but the job is so... wrong," I look at her, waiting for elaboration. She looks at me and sees me waiting for her to explain, and continues. "Some rich guy came in here and told me he knew all this stuff about me, how I was struggling to make ends meet here, and offered to pay my way through whatever school I wanted with the major of my choosing on top of buying me a place to live and giving me money to live on..."

"I'm assuming a catch is coming," I offer, prompting her to continue. She nods.

"He wants me to try to turn his son straight..." My eyes widen. I didn't expect anything like that, I kind of expected live in whore or something terrible like that. Ironic that I'd be the one she'd tell about this.

"That's... terrible..." is all I can muster in response. She nods.

"I don't really have a choice though... I need the money, and I hate it here. I don't have anywhere to live now..." Tears began to flood from her eyes again.

"I have an apartment, it's two bedroom and there's four people staying there right now, but you can stay there if you want,"

"...Why?" she asks. "I just met you, you have no reason to take me in," she sobbed.

"I'm not a fan of just letting people sit and wallow in misery," I give her a sympathetic smile, and get up, offering my hands to her to help her up as well.

"Wait here, I'll be right back," I head to the bathroom since the whole reason I cam back here was to use it, and after washing my hands I check the time. It'd been six o'clock when I'd gotten home, and we came here at seven, and the clock on my cell phone reads ten. I walk back to where Lily stands, and she awkwardly covers her chest with crossed arms.

"Do you have clothes here?" I ask, hoping the answer is yes. She nods, and walks through another door. A few minutes later, she comes out in a big pink sweatshirt, black sweatpants, and worn out tennis shoes with the white heels from before in her hand. I lead her to the table where Puck and Finn were before, and see that Puck has gotten completely messed up since I left, currently throwing singles at the bartender asking her to take her clothes off, when she clearly isn't one of the dancers. Finn is sitting calmly at the table, looking a little more at ease than before with the whole situation.

"Hey Finn, wanna get Puckerman to stop harassing that poor girl so we can go?" He looks up and nods, standing up and slamming down the rest of his beer as if it were a shot, and then walks over to Puck, dragging him away from the less than amused bartender.

"Are you ok to leave?" I ask Lily, and she simply nods, giving me a small smile, though I can tell it's not completely sincere. I start to walk out as Finn and Puck get to where we stand, and I link Lily's arm in mine as a comfort. Both other men are too drunk to say anything, leaning on each other and walking sloppily. Puck steals a glance in our direction, but I stand between him and Lily. He starts to say something, but I shake my head and he shuts up. We walk the distance to my apartment with only unintelligible comments coming from Puck and Finn, neither Lily or I say anything. I open the door and walk up the stairs with Lily before the drunk buffoons. I unlock the door to my apartment to see Rachel on the couch, reading what appears to be a script and listening to music from Wicked.

She looks over at the door as we walk in, eyes widening as she sees Puck and Finn falling all over themselves. Her gaze then turns to me questioningly at the small girl on my arm, looking nervous and a little bit scared. I let go of Lily and guide Finn to Rachel, and Puck to one of the couches, where he promptly collapses and starts to laugh quietly like an idiot. I walk over to Rachel, and whisper in her ear.

"They wanted to go drinking, we ended up in a strip club. Don't be angry with Finn, he was mopey the whole time and I think he thought you'd be able to tell if he looked at any of the girls. I went in to humor Puck. I'll tell you about the girl later." She nods, and proceeds to guide Finn up the stairs to her bedroom. I walk back to where Lily is, and walk her up the stairs as well, showing her where the bathroom is and bringing her into my room.

"You can sleep in here, and you can borrow some of my pajamas or I can ask Rachel, she's the brunette that was in the living room when we came in. Mr. Mohawk is Noah, or Puck if you prefer to call him that, and the other guy is my stepbrother, Finn. Rachel can be a little odd but she's nice, and don't worry about Puck. He's a little perverted but he's really kind when he's sober," That earns me a small smile from the petite blonde, and I smile back.

"I have clothes..." she says, and I look her over with an eyebrow raised.

"Do you want to take a shower or just go to sleep?" I ask, and she responds simply with the word shower. I grab a pair of pajama bottoms and an old t-shirt from a drawer, using the shower as an excuse to give the girl a change of clothing from the stained sweatshirt and sweatpants, and exit the room to grab a towel from the linen closet. I set them on the counter in the bathroom and tell Lily to go ahead. She thanks me with a small smile and disappears into the bathroom, locking the door.

As the door closes, Rachel emerges from her bedroom, and immediately I hear Finn's snores from inside.

"So who's the girl?" she asks quietly, walking down the stairs and beckoning me to follow.

"Her name's Lily. When we were at the strip club I left Finn and Puck to go to the bathroom, and I found her in a hallway leading to a changing room. She was kicked out of her apartment and really confused."

"Why confused?" Rachel asks, and I pause a moment to figure out how to explain it.

"Well... she can't afford to live in her apartment, and she has to go to school but she can't afford it. Some rich creep found out about it and offered to pay for her college, as well as getting her a place to live and giving her more money on top of that, if she can turn his son straight..." I sit down on the couch and look away from my friend.

"Oh my god... wow... does she have a job though?"

I look at her blankly, wondering how she didn't pick up on the fact that I found the girl in a strip club. "Rachel... she's a stripper..."

"What? Seriously?" she nearly shouts, but catches herself when Puck shifted on the couch next to her. I nod and wait for Rachel to blow up in my face about bringing a stripper home.

"I don't like this Kurt, but I guess I'll try to go with your judgement."

"Thanks..." I say, hoping Rachel won't be too hard on Lily. She's obviously had enough problems, and doesn't deserve a mental beating from Rachel, who can't really tell when to stop talking sometimes. I hear the door of the upstairs bathroom open, and Lily emerges wearing the purple pajama bottoms I set out for her and the t-shirt. Her hair is wet and uncombed, and she walks down the stairs, looking at Rachel and Puck and then me. She sits on the couch next to me, and then looks to Rachel.

"Hi, Rachel, right?" she says nervously, and tries to flash a smile, but it isn't very convincing.

"Yeah, and you must be Lily. Can we know a little more about you since you're going to be staying here?" I sigh at Rachel's instant prying, but to my surprise, Lily begins to talk.

"Well, my last name is Kennedie, I'm eighteen, graduated from high school last year. I couldn't afford college, so I took up stripping to try to get enough cash to go to some community college. Problem is there are so many girls there that the only ones that get tipped well are the... private dancers, and I'm just a backup dancer for the big shows. Everything was okay at the beginning, but then my rent started to go up, and I can't afford it anymore... my parents disowned me because of what I do, so I've never had an out. I became a stripper because of a friend of mine, she said that she made a lot of money doing it, but what she didn't tell me was that she came from money and no one cared about what she did. So she had money to start off with and didn't need to live off the dancing. But I did. I got a call today about my apartment, that I've been kicked out. That's why I was still at the club when Kurt was there, I should have left two hours before but I didn't have any place to go and I didn't know what to do."

I frown. I feel bad for the girl. I beckon Rachel over towards me with a finger, and I stand up and walk towards the kitchen area of the apartment as Lily sits and fiddles with the drawstring of the pajama pants.

"Rachel, I want to offer her a place here long term,"

"What? You must be kidding. You just met her!" I hang my head, formulating an answer.

"I know, but think, we were in Glee Club, and what was that exactly? It was a place where everyone could be themselves. No one was penalized for who they were. She was disowned for one mistake, and now she can't get out of it. You were dismissed because you weren't popular, and I was bullied for being gay. This is our chance to help someone else like Glee helped us. Don't you want to take that chance?"

She sighs, and nods, but I can tell she isn't thrilled, but she is persuaded by the idea. I smile, and practically prance back to the couch, where Lily has moved to biting her fingernails nervously.

"Lily, I know we just met, but I want to let you stay here as long as you need."

Looking down at the ground, she crookedly smiles and then gets up. "Thank you," she murmurs, and looks me in the eyes. I smile back, and watch her gaze move to Rachel who stands in the kitchen with her arms crossed. I roll my eyes at her and head up the stairs to grab a pair of pajamas, and walk into the bathroom to let Lily get some sleep. I shower and put the pajamas on, and find that Rachel has already went back into her room to go to sleep when I come out. I walk downstairs, passing Lily on her way up, and wake Puck so I can pull out the futon for him. He drowsily stands and waits and then collapses onto the bed more haphazardly than before, and I settle into the couch with my feet on the ottoman and a soft blanket over my body.


End file.
